I unfurled my wings and prepared to attack the main force with Isabelle and Lucas, but before I could do anything a loud explosion rocked the ground under my feet, forcing me to stop in my tracks. I snapped my head around and even through the fog I could see the distinct glow of fire near the back of the facility. The Governor wasn’t bluffing, he really did have more men, and they were closing in on us from both sides. We were left with no choice but to fight our way out.

Fear ran through me for the rest of our forces. I held onto hope that none of them had been caught up in the blast, and that we’d taught them well enough to defeat the enemy on their own. I hesitated as I tried to decide between flying to the back to help the others, and staying put to help with the main force. I had no way of knowing which fight would need me more and it made the decision nearly impossible. The last thing I wanted was to choose wrong and let people die.

In the end I reasoned out that there were far more people fighting in the back, and we spent long enough training them that I was sure they would prevail. I would stay put and help the few of us fighting here. Besides, the governor was far more important to deal with. If we could get him to surrender there was a chance he’d call them all off.

I steeled myself for my attack and got into a runner's position behind the wall of ice. The rain was essentially providing Lucas with unlimited ammo to keep the wall up, and I could hear each bullet smack the ice and fail to pierce through to the other side. I used the noise to figure out that most of the bullets were coming from the left side, and prepared myself to attack that direction. A wave of fear rushed through my body just as I was about to take off. There were so many of them, and I was afraid that I wouldn’t escape uninjured after my initial attack. I knew what I had to do, but making my body do it was another story.

I took a deep breath, and propelled myself forward. The rain pelted my face harder as I flew forward and laid eyes on my targets. Rows of soldiers, all unleashing waves and waves of bullets into the ice wall. They seemed panicked, and they hadn’t yet noticed me. I knew from earlier that Isabelle was near the right side, so I didn’t have to worry about hitting her. It was time.

I started near the back of the left side, hoping it would buy me a few more seconds before I was noticed. I made contact with the first four soldiers, slicing their heads clean off with ease. My momentum was slowed by the weight of their gear against my wings, and the next two rows of soldiers were increasingly difficult to take down because of it. By the fourth row I was straining to go faster and faster to keep up with the kills. I pushed my wings to their limit as I sliced through the fourth row. I hit the fifth row and failed to behead them. I’d lost all the speed I’d built up as I flew in. The men were injured, but not nearly enough. They screamed out, and the remaining men’s attention turned towards me.

I wiggled my wings free from the necks of the men I failed to kill, worsening the wounds in the process, and flapped my wings down forcefully, sending me up into the air and out of their reach. Once I was high enough I spun around and flew back to the safety of the wall, flying erratically to dodge the onslaught of bullets directed at me. Amazingly, I managed to make it behind the wall without a scratch. I crashed to the ground to kill my speed before I hurt anyone.

“Half,” I said as Alex and Lucas turned their attention to me. “I dealt with half of them. Three more wounded, About twenty left, counting the governor,” I choked out through desperate attempts to catch my breath.

“Got it,” the two of them said in unison.

“Are you hurt at all?” Alex said worriedly as he scanned me up and down for injuries.

I shook my head and smiled. He nodded with relief and then rejoined Lucas.

“Ready?” Lucas asked.

Alex nodded and greatly increased the amount of fog coming off of him. Lucas would have to stop focusing on the wall to turn his attention to offense, leaving it vulnerable to attack. To compensate for this Alex would cloak us in a thick wall of fog, so they wouldn’t be able to see us or the damage being done to the wall. Hopefully, it would prevent them from dodging Lucas’s attack as well.

“Twenty,” Lucas repeated to himself. “I got this.”

The rain had started coming down even harder in the few minutes since the fight broke out. I relished the feeling of it pouring over me as it rinsed the evidence of my crimes away. The fight would’ve been much harder without the boost it provided to Lucas, we got truly lucky in that aspect.

Lucas slowly moved towards the edge of the fog as he formed large spears of ice, one after another, until twenty of them were gathered around him. He quickly slid out of the fog so he could see his targets, and unleashed his attack. I couldn’t see him anymore through the fog, but I knew his attack was successful as the parade of bullets came to a halt, leaving only the sounds of the fight in the distance muffled by the rain.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Alex fell to his knees on the ground next to me and the fog started to dissipate. He looked pale and weak. He’d overdone it. I put my arm around him and helped him sit down. The ice wall had fallen, and we were left without cover. Now that I could see clearly I took stock of the situation. Three men were left standing. The governor, and his two guards. All of the soldiers around them were dead, but I’d miscounted. Lucas also noticed the last three, but before he could move to deal with the last two guards they both aimed their guns at him.

“Freeze!” They ordered him. “On the ground now! Show your hands!”

“We’ll talk terms if you stop now!” The Governor chipped in, screaming over the rain and obviously shaken from the scene of carnage surrounding him.

Lucas complied, and raised his hands, dropping to his knees swiftly. One of the men turned his gun on Alex and I, repeating his orders. We were already on the ground, so we both raised our hands into the air, mimicking Lucas. Alex leaned in to me and whispered a message for me to scream out to Isabelle. He was too weak to do it himself. I’d completely forgotten she was here, waiting.

“Not the governor!” I screamed out as Alex told me to.

The men looked confused. They thought I was talking to them. Then a look of horror crossed their faces. One tried to speak, but it was too late. Their throats were slashed, and they fell to the ground in an instant. Isabelle appeared directly in front of the governor, a bloody knife materializing in each hand.

“Not the governor, lucky man,” she teased as he looked to each side in horror, realizing his men were killed.

Governor Barrett stood alone, and unarmed. He looked terrified. He snapped his head around, trying to keep looking at all four of us. He took a large step back from Isabelle, and slipped on the wet ground. He crashed to the ground in front of her and the three of us joined her in front of him.

“You’re just a child,” The governor said to Isabelle in disbelief as he eyed her bloody knives. “You would really listen to these monsters that would make a kid like you fight?”

“You made me fight!” she screamed in his face. “It’s your fault! You made me like this! You’re the reason my sister is dead! You’re the reason your men are dead! It’s all because of you,” her voice cracked and she let out a loud sob as tears filled her eyes.

Lucas pulled her into a tight hug, he patted her head as she cried into his chest. He kept his eyes locked onto the governor. His face showed no emotion other than anger, even as he comforted June’s sister. It had to be painful for him, but he didn’t show it.

Barrett finally seemed too uncomfortable to keep glaring at Lucas, and turned his attention to Alex and I. He was still weak even after downing a bottle of water that was tucked into his pocket on the walk over. I’d put my wings away so I could help him walk over, and he was leaning on me heavily, with one arm draped around my shoulder for support.

“I saw you earlier,” He said to me suspiciously. “Those wings you had, you looked like a real monster.”

He turned his attention to the pile of bodies on his right, where I’d attacked. They were left headless. It was a horrible sight, he was right about that. His gaze lingered on the scene behind him. The sheer horror of it seemed to weigh heavily on him as Isabelle’s words soaked in.

Alex cleared his throat, “It’s just you. Will you speak with us now?”

“I still have men!” he snapped and gestured to the spot at the back of the facility where the explosion had been. He stopped and looked at the light being projected into the sky.

“What is that?” he asked angrily.

“Means all of your men are dead there too,” Lucas said with a cold smile.

Lucas retrieved a remote from his pocket to demonstrate. He clicked the button and the spotlight planted in the front yard near us went on, mirroring the one in the back.

The governor was silent for a moment as he contemplated his situation.

“Fine. I’ll pass your terms higher up the chain of command and see what I can do. It was my operation to oversee but make no mistake, I’m not in charge. I can’t make any promises. You know I’m not lying, you read the emails.” he said, sounding defeated.

Alex nodded, seeming content with his answer. “One more thing. Make sure you tell them we tried to get you to do that before this fight began. We didn’t want to kill them all, you forced our hand. They need to know we only fight if we have to,” Alex said to the governor sternly.

Governor Barrett nodded, “Can I go now?”

“Go where? Inside?” Alex asked.

“What? No, I want to leave. I will get in contact with the higher ups I swear.” Barrett pleaded.

Alex sighed before replying. “I hate to do this, but you can’t leave. We need you for assurance until our terms are agreed to. We might need you for a bargaining chip if they decline. You better hope your bosses care more about your life than you cared about your men.”

“You’re going to hold a Governor hostage?” he asked in disbelief.

Lucas laughed harshly. Isabelle had walked back towards the building, leaving Lucas free to speak without upsetting her again. “Don’t think of yourself as a hostage. More like a prisoner of war. You can stay in one of the lovely cells you created for us and meet all of the people whose lives you changed. You’ll love it,” he said with a cruel smile.